Freelance Writing: Finding Your Niche

If you want to become a freelance writer, it's important that you find your niche. This is a phrase you will often here in the business world or among entrepreneurs. The same principal is true with writing as a freelancer.

As writers, we often want to be a "jack-of-all-trades" but the truth of the matter is that if you expect people to hire you to work for them and pay you for your expertise, you will need to be an expert in something.

This isn't to say that you will never write on other topics or take projects outside of your particular niche. It just means that you need a foundation to build upon. You need a subject matter that you can make yourself an expert in.

The best way to do this is to look at what you already know. What are you good at? What do you enjoy? What are your favorite hobbies or pastimes? What is your current or previous career? These are all life experiences that can help you form a niche in your writing.

If you are a mother to three, your niche might be in parenting. This is something you have dealt with on a regular basis and you can draw from your own experiences. It is also a great way to establish yourself as an expert when you are yet to be published.

If you previously worked in real estate or real estate investing, this is a great place to start your writing career. Write about what you know! If you worked as a bank manager for 20 years, you may submit articles to finance publications. If you are an avid snow skier, you might submit articles on recreational sports.

To find your niche, take some time to look into your likes, your hobbies and your experiences, anything that you have a passion for or a great interest in. This will help you determine what your niche can be.

Another thing you need to ask yourself is what type of writing you'd like to do. What do you like to read? Are you into poetry? Do you enjoy writing short stories and prose? Or are you more into nonfiction and journalism, product reviews or how-to's? Again, this doesn't mean that you can't do other types of writing once you choose one; it just gives you a good starting point to build on.